What color is the inside of your tailpipe ?
 

I know this is no replacement for a proper tune up procedure, but after a good spirited drive, what should look like the tailpipe of a properly adjusted car (without cat) ?

I think with no-lead fuel these days it will always be either black or just the pipe color. The gray color that you looked for in the old days was lead deposited on the exhaust pipe, or so I was told.

Mine is a dark gray; not quite black. And no soot on the u/s of the bumper.

CIS, no cat, no O2, Sunoco (now Petrocan) 94

I'm getting a light gray.

just to add, the last couple of tanks were of 98RON

Unleaded fuel tends to lack any tan coloration, leaving a gray residue of varying darkness. If you are using leaded fuel, you will see a gray/tan coloration. As long as the pipe is not sooty, your description sounds okay. A larger concern would be an overly lean mixture which you may wish to check by looking at the plugs themselves or testing with a gas analyzer.

pink

That's what I was thinking, you said it first, tho. ha

I was wondering who would be the first to answer such a personal question. Nice job JW. :)

If I may offer,....

Tailpipe colors reflect gasoline formulations, thats all. Depending on what fuel we use, I can see anything from all shades of grey, dark brown, light tan, and med brown.

It doesn't reflect mixture strength and should never be used to judge whether an engine is rich or lean. Thats why we either learn how to properly read spark plugs, or install a wide-band AFR instrument. :) :)

Those folks who engage in using tailpipe colors to determine air-fuel ratios may be purchasing some expensive engine parts in the future.